How I Met Renzy

So peeps, here's a blog on how I met Renzy...

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end of a practice

        This semester is nearing to an end and I could say that it hasn’t been an easy obstacle to finish. We had several things to accomplish, presentations, reports, reflection papers which led to sleepless nights and tiresome days. Being drained almost every day led me to neglect my responsibility on taking care of Renzy. I was overwhelmed and I just thought that the environmental factors Renzy had would be enough for it to live. Of course, I was wrong. One gloomy afternoon, I visited Renzy, and I could see from its physique that it’s nearing to die. Its leaves were brownish, some were already extracted; the soil was dry and it was evident that it didn’t receive water for a few days. I felt terrible. I wasn’t able to fulfill my role, which is to take care of Renzy for this whole semester. It occurred to me that I needed to manage my time effectively in order for me to divide my time to the tasks I will need to take care. If only I was able to manage my time wisely and if only I didn’t think lightly of Renzy, then I wouldn’t feel guilty at all.

       From the first shifting up to now, I learned that taking care of Renzy is one way on how I would treat a patient in the future. It led me to think of ways on how to take care of it and how to let it grow. I had to evaluate it at first because I didn’t know anything about this plant nor did I have any background taking care of one. I focused on looking for the needs of this plant, how much water should I give and how much sunlight does it need for it to photosynthesize and produce oxygen as its role in the environment. I made sure to know these things in order for me to maximize the capability of Renzy with the role it has. Another thing that I learned is that one should collaborate with other people. This third shifting, I admit that I didn’t have much time to visit Renzy because I was too absorbed with other tasks. With the help of my other classmates, I collaborated with them and asked them to also water Renzy whenever they visit theirs and I would also do the same. Collaboration with other people would let one achieve goals, improve health outcomes, satisfaction, and reduce health care costs. This nurture project let me collaborate with my classmates which developed new knowledge, skills, and teamwork with taking care of our plant (AOTA, 2015). Another thing that I learned with taking care of Renzy is that after the evaluation that I did in order to give care to Renzy, I need to move on to the next step of Occupational Therapy Process which is intervention. I search for possible things I needed to do in order to save Renzy from dehydration. However, I wasn’t able to relive him because it was too sick and the environmental factors weren’t cooperating since there were times that the weather was really sunny then in the afternoon it would get rainy. I learned that one should be able to evaluate and think of other interventions for the care of a client, as well as putting other factors for the intervention in order to reach your goal.

      I would always be grateful for the experience Renzy gave me. Even though I wasn’t able to fulfill the goals I had planned because I failed to do the intervention, I will take it as a lesson for me when I treat patients in the future. I should learn to adapt well with the needs of the client I would be handling, and make sure to come up with interventions that they will be needing. I also learned that one should be able to evaluate and think of other interventions for the care of a client, as well as putting other factors for the intervention in order to reach your goal. Flexibility is one key to think of strategies for the improvement of your client. Letting go of Renzy has given me a heads up or a training to analyze and to identify the appropriate approach one should give. Lastly, I am thankful for Renzy because I was also able to think of ideas for optimizing its quality of life even though his was nearing to an end. Individuals approaching the end of life may experience decline in body functions and structure over time, justbas what happened with Renzy, but not a loss of right in life. As an OT, we value everything even if they’re not in their best conditions.

References

American Journal of Occupational Therapy, August 2018, Vol. 72, 7212410030. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.72S207

Pizzi, Occupational therapy in the promotion of health and wellness. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis

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Here are some of Renzy’s latest pictures

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Here are some pictures of Renzy at the start of our 2nd Shiftings

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Realizations

3. What did I learn or realize during this time while taking care of this plant?

There are several things I have learned during my 2nd month of taking care of Renzy. I was able to engage with other people in order for me to know new ways on how to properly give care to my plant. Collaboration is essential for a team to work on because through this, you would be able to align your goals and thus making your task easier and doable. Another realization would be, everyone should be ready. You would never be able to predict what will happen next with the weather or with the environment; that is why we should already envision possibilities and prepare for emergencies. Just like when there was a weather forecast that it will rain hard, I immediately visited my plant and transferred from the top to the second level so that the poured rain fall would not drown my plant easily. Lastly, I realized that we should always be client-centered. Wherein you would set your activities and goals for your client, and how your client is right now. Of course, you would also need to talk with your client regarding your goals for their sessions. With that, you would be able to understand how your client is and perceive its situation.

     I just want to share that this project has led me to envision myself as an Occupational Therapist. Being one is really amazing because you get to work with different people from all walks of life and you’ll get to fulfill their goals for themselves. An Occupational Therapist also has opportunities to be creative with how they interact while catering to their therapy sessions. I know that it will be hard today but I’ll just need to envision my goals in life and how I’ll be able to restore and rehabilitate conditions of people in need.

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How unique is Renzy?

2.      How is my plant compared with the plants of my classmates? How similar or different is my plant? Why? What are my feelings regarding these similarities or differences? 

Ever since I tried to increase the independency of Renzy, I noticed that I still need to be a little attached to it because I think it had a hard time to adapt with the sudden changes I made. Compared to other plants, I am still proud of Renzy for holding on. I have seen several plants die, maybe because they weren’t taken care of or being looked at as how I treat Renzy. We already have this dynamic relationship in us wherein even though we don’t meet every day, we have this trust in each other. Trust is really important in a relationship because it is the foundation for collaboration. Without collaboration, everything will just fall apart and will be nothing.

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How is Renzy?

1.      How is my plant? Describe your thoughts and feelings about your plant and the experience of taking care of my plant. How is it similar or different from the 1st shifting period?

It has been a month since I last updated regarding the status of Renzy. A month ago, I shared about his characteristic and traits. Now, I’ll be sharing with how he has improved. In my experience of taking care of it, I was able to apply what I have learned in Understanding Occupations. It is not only you who’ll think of what’s best for you client, you should also consult other people, or other professionals in order for you to give the maximum activities you could give in order for it to grow better and faster. During the first shiftings, I was at the entry level wherein I was visiting my plant as frequent as I could in order for me to see and accept the responsibilities I am to handle. During that time, I had the mindset of developing both skills of mine, as its therapist and the plant as my client. Developing my skills meant being flexible to the situations I needed to partake into especially during those times I won’t be able to see Renzy. I needed to think quickly for solutions because I was paranoid that the care I gave my plant won’t be enough due to environmental factors. This time, I am on the intermediate level wherein I have already seen and understood ways on how to give care to Renzy while being a little distant. Being a little distant would give my client some time to improve by itself, independently. During the 2nd shiftings, I asked some of my friends to water Renzy for me and to talk to it even for a little while. Doing those simple things, I was able to give Renzy other engagements with other people which would let him process by itself independently.

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here are some pictures of Renzy and I together with our friends

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realizations with Renzy

For 3 weeks of taking care of Renzy, I was able to envision things that I need to do and be prepared of as an Occupational Therapist in the future. Here are some of my realizations:

1.    Importance of patient care

Taking care of a plant should not be taken as a joke, just as patients, we need to value and respect them. We’ll have different kinds of patients with different situations, we should treat each equally and just. Some patients would feel

2.    Be prepared

You’ll never know what circumstances would happen in the future, one shouldn’t have the “bahala na lang” as their mindset because it would never be helpful, it would just deter you from being productive and prepared. There was a time that it rained really hard and if I had thought of “bahala na lang, ‘di naman mamamatay halaman ko.”  then my plant would really die. After the day when there were heavy rainfalls, I checked how my plant was and I saw how soft it’s soil was. I immediately drained it so that Renzy wouldn’t be drowned.

3. Have your research

Having your research regarding your plant would give you knowledge with the things that you’ll need to do. With that, I was able to know that Reny should only be watered every 1-2 days. It shouldn’t be exposed to too much sunlight as its leaves would dry. Being aware of the state/ condition of your plant, you would be able to help it grow nourished.

4. Be flexible

This project also made me realize that I need to be flexible, not all patients that you’ll work with would have several conditions and dysfunctions, I need to have a wider scope for me to be able to give them proper care and right therapy.

All in all, this project helped me visualize what I would become in the future as part of working in health care and becoming an Occupational Therapist. I have always been a person who has a soft heart and finds fulfillment whenever I help someone in need. Taking care of Renzy, I already envisioned myself giving care to a patient. Although it reminded me of home, I learned to limit myself and have my distance. I am grateful to truly grateful have Renzy by my side, as it gives me motivation that I can and I will become an Occupational Therapist.

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(via GIPHY)

here’s a gif of Renzy!

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what I felt when I met Renzy...

At first, I was scared of having this responsibility, I had doubts whether I would be able to take care of Renzy the way my mother would. And with the fact that I won’t be able to visit it for days, I was terrified that it would just leave and die. I remember one time, here at my dorm, it was raining really hard and I suddenly remembered Renzy. I was so worried that it might get drowned with the rainfall, as herbs like Renzy are not advised to have much water. In fact, with the research I have done, it is better to water it every 1-2 days. Being worried and scared helped me to become strong and to look forward with the days I would be spending time with Renzy. It gave me time to realize that there is nothing to be afraid of. We just need to trust each other. Trust is basically the foundation of my relationship with Renzy. Without trust, everything would just fall off. There wouldn’t be any progress if one would doubt the other. Be optimistic on the things that will happen in the future because being positive would let your relationship grow and prosper.

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here are some pics of me and Renzy!

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how i met renzy

Renzy is a basil plant, with Ocimum Basilicum as its real name. It looks magnificent with its oval green leaves and stunning whenever the sunlight shines at it. As a plant, I can truly say that it is very flexible as it has endured several rain falls and tremendous heat from the scorching sun. Renzy lives in a small pot placed in the OT plant boxes. I am blessed to be part of his life and adventures. Renzy taught me to love him as I have loved my family; I thought of him as one of us. He reminded me of my home that’s why I treat him like a gem. To be honest, I wasn’t the one who chose Renzy because during that time when we needed to bring a plant, I didn’t know where to buy nor did I have any time to go out. I was glad to know that my friend bought me a basil plant because its aroma reminisces what I usually smell at our garden. That is how I met Renzy; through my friend. My mother is fond of having herb plants, she even has three pots for every plant that she takes care of. Every time I see Renzy, my heart flutters with the thought of remembering my mother’s care. It’ easy for me to take care of Renzy because I am able to apply what my mother taught on how to deal with herb plants.